Naruto: The Fourth Clan
by TheChazMan
Summary: When the Fire Country Daimyo's Elite 12 Guardians are defeated, its up to the Konoha 11 to hunt down the one responsible! But who is this mysterious, unbelievably strong warrior, and what is his connection to the Hidden Leaf? Part One of an epic saga!
1. Prolouge

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto… 'nuff said.**

**Welcome one, Welcome all! Since the anime fillers have finally ended I decided I'd take a break from my original works to write a Naruto story I came up with. (…OK, so what really happened was I wanted to write this so much I couldn't concentrate on my original stuff…)**

**The story itself is filler, taking place somewhere after Sasuke's departure but before the infamous 'Time Skip'. I don't like long A/Ns so let just jump right in, shall we?**

**Oh yeah, before I forget: Words in italics are flashbacks/exposition, dreams, or a character's internal thoughts… It should be pretty easy to figure out which is which when you read it, so don't worry, ;)**

* * *

_Many years ago, when the Five Great Shinobi Nations were mere glimmers in the eyes of the people, a village was founded in the heart of what would one day be known as Fire Country. This village was Konoha; the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Many know the story of the two brothers who founded Konoha, but they did not do so alone. Four great Shinobi clans would rally to their call and make the budding village their home…_

_The Hyuuga clan; keepers of the Byakugan and possessing a Divine Sight. Strong and stoic in their traditions, the unearthly, iridescent-pearl eyes of the Hyuuga were already known far and wide when the clan decided to aid in the founding of Konoha. Respected by all shinobi, the Hyuuga elders saw it as their duty to act as an example for others to follow._

_The Sarutobi clan; a small family that had long been an ally of the two brothers. Though few in number, the Sarutobi possessed both great knowledge and great compassion for their fellows. The eldest of the two brothers, who would become the village's First Hokage, once said that Konoha would never have existed for more than a generation if not for the grace and hard work of the Sarutobi._

_The Uchiha clan; distant relatives of the Hyuuga and inheritors of the legendary Sharingan. They were warriors without peer, stealthy and cunning, who were rapidly gaining fame and respect as a clan. Charged with the defense and policing of Konoha itself by the two brothers, Uchiha would become a name that was synonymous with the Hidden Leaf for generations to come._

_The fourth and final clan that founded Konoha has no name… it was stripped from them- forcibly taken away by order of the Second Hokage, the younger of the two brothers. Books and literature that mentioned this clan were destroyed or re-written to exclude them. Banners and buildings that bore their symbol were torn down or burned to the ground. The clan members that resisted were hunted down and exterminated with prejudice, while the few that survived accepted exile from the village in exchange for their lives._

_The reason for these tragic events was likewise concealed; erased from recorded history so that none would know of the Fourth Clan's terrible sin. The only place in which this knowledge still exists is in the minds of certain individuals whose lineage reaches back far enough that the story has been passed down to them by their elders._

_Even these few consider the stories to be more legend than fact, and none know what became of the Fourth Clan's descendants…_

* * *

The sky was a clear blue and the air was cool and crisp on this autumn day in northern Fire Country. The weather had been just as calm for the past few days, something that was pleasing to Hiro Yamamoto. The aged Daimyo had just completed a lengthy series of talks with the leaders of the Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Grass villages. At the behest of the Fifth Hokage, Yamamoto had called for both nations to discuss a peace treaty that might put them on better terms with Fire Country in light of the ongoing conflict against the Hidden Sound. Yamamoto stroked his long gray beard thoughtfully as he eyed the ornate scroll case sitting beside him in his fine carriage, inside of which lay the final version of the treaty. Only the Fifth's signature was now needed to ratify it and forge a strong alliance between the three nations. The Daimyo let out a long, satisfied sigh. It would be quite awhile yet before his caravan reached Konoha village, and the gentle rocking motion of his carriage seemed to be inviting him into taking a peaceful, well-deserved nap.

"Are you all right, Yamamoto-dono?" a sudden voice startled him. He glanced to one side and wasn't particularly surprised to see the familiar face of one of his Twelve Elite Guardians gazing at him through the open carriage window.

"Thank you, Chiriku, but you needn't be concerned every time I close my eyes," the older man replied with a smile, "I'm not quite that old just yet."

"Of course Daimyo, I apologize," the monk replied with a slight bow.

"How long until we reach Konoha?" Yamamoto asked. Chiriku looked down the road ahead of the caravan and then briefly up at the sky to note the position of the sun.

"If we continue on until dark, we should be there by mid-morning tomorrow, I would say. Sarutobi-san would know more precisely, but he is currently out with three others scouting the road ahead of us." Upon hearing this, Yamamoto allowed himself a slight chuckle.

"Between the two of you, there's never-"

"Yamamoto-dono!" a third voice called out excitedly in the distance. Chiriku turned to look in the direction the voice had come from and nodded at the sight of four Hidden Leaf shinobi bounding toward them from branch to branch.

"Here he comes now, Daimyo," the monk said, sensing the tension in his fellow Elite Guardians even from this distance. He called for the caravan to come to a stop by raising his hand, and a split second later the four ninja had landed silently at the side of the carriage, bowing down on one knee as they addressed the Daimyo.

"Yamamoto-dono," Asuma Sarutobi gasped out, his breathing ragged and strained as though he had just overtaxed himself. Yamamoto had never seen the jounin so out of breath. "We must turn the caravan around, now!!" Chiriku signaled the cart drivers to follow Asuma's instructions without waiting for an explanation. The monk knew his old friend would not make such a claim without a good reason. Yamamoto blinked once in a questioning manner.

"What's wrong, Sarutobi? What did you find up ahead?" the Daimyo asked. The bearded jounin lifted his head enough to look at the Daimyo before answering.

"We were scouting along the road looking for- !!" He suddenly froze in mid-sentence. He, Chiriku and all of the other ninja present stiffened considerably and grew quiet. Even the birds and sounds of the forest seemed to die down. Almost as one, the Guardian's heads all swept to look down the road in the direction they had been heading. In the eerie silence, the only noise that could be heard sounded like the steady clip-clop of a single pair of wooden sandals.

"No…" Asuma gasped, "could he be here already?!" Yamamoto leaned out his window, straining his aging eyes in an attempt to catch a glimpse of whatever had twelve of the most powerful warriors in Fire Country nearly shaking in fear. As a light wind blew a cloud of dust across the road, a man dressed in a baggy, plain white Gi and wearing the simple wooden sandals of a traveler appeared. His head, covered in a thick black hair that seemed to spike out randomly in every direction, was bowed low as he walked steadily toward them, almost as if he was studying the ground ahead of him intently. His thumbs were tucked comfortably behind his wide belt, allowing his hands to rest easily against his hips. Yamamoto was not a shinobi, nor had he ever been a great warrior of any sort, but even he could feel the power this plainly clothed man seemed to exude. The man continued to approach, seemingly unaware of the caravan's presence, as Chiriku finally found his voice.

"Sarutobi-san," the monk whispered, "this man is…"

"I know… my scouts and I sensed the strength of his chakra before he even came into sight," Asuma finished for him, "and that killing intent of his is so strong I nearly fainted when he spotted us watching him." Chiriku's eyes widened in response. _He was able to spot a jounin-level shinobi hidden amongst all these trees?!_ The warrior monk's face hardened as the man began to near the front of the caravan, though it was now apparent that he was more a boy than a man, maybe in his mid to late teens.

"There is no point in running," Chiriku stated flatly. Asuma nodded in agreement as he and the other Elite Guardians formed a defensive half circle around the Daimyo's carriage. "It would be best if you stayed out of sight, Daimyo." Any protest the aged statesman might have offered was cut off as Chiriku swiftly undid the cords that held the carriage window's heavy draped blinds, closing the man inside. Just as the monk assumed his position alongside the others, the Gi-clad man stopped about twenty feet from the caravan and slowly raised his head. Cold, slate-gray eyes stared out at the twelve men arrayed before him, glancing over each in turn without speaking a word.

"State your name and purpose," Asuma called out. The young man's eyes focused exclusively on the jounin as a sudden glint from Asuma's forehead protector caught his attention. A thin, cold smile spread slowly across the man's features.

"Konoha shinobi," he uttered in a voice that seemed both smooth and yet harsh, like the sound of a stone sliding across the frozen surface of a lake in winter. "I was wondering where the four of you had run off to. It seems you had some friends nearby."

"We are the Twelve Elite Guardians, personal bodyguards of Daimyo Hiro Yamamoto," Chiriku announced. "We are escorting his Lordship to the Village Hidden in the Leaves on a mission of peace. We have no quarrel with you, traveler."

"No quarrel?" the man asked, his smile widening into a sadistic grin as his eyes began to shimmer with an ethereal, neon blue light, "Oh, I think you're quite mistaken."

* * *

"Hurry it up, Lee! I'll make you skip dinner and run two hundred extra laps around Konoha if you don't make it back before dark!" Gai Maito called over his shoulder as he darted down the wide dirt road at what he considered a leisurely pace.

"Ossu!" came the slightly-less-exuberant-than-usual reply. Lagging about fifty paces behind him and breathing heavily, the determined young Genin Rock Lee willfully pushed aside the aching pains in his legs and continued sprinting in an attempt to catch up to his sensei. Gai smiled proudly, as he always did when watched the young Genin push himself to his limits and beyond in his constant attempt to better himself and develop his skills through hard work.

The dark-haired jounin wondered if maybe he shouldn't allow his pupil the chance to rest. After all, they had just completed Lee's first ever B-rank mission, which had involved the escort of a group of wealthy traders all the way to a small village on the border of Lightning Country. It had not been an easy task either, having seen its share of difficulties in the form of bandit attacks, flooded rivers, roads blocked by recent avalanches, and a particularly angry woman wielding a metal pot that they'd encountered at a roadside ramen stand. _I still don't think that bump she gave me on the back of my head is fully healed yet…_

Gai pushed the grumbling thought aside as he glanced back at his student again. No, he couldn't go easy on Lee… even if he told him to stop and rest, the bushy-eyebrowed boy would probably protest by saying he was just warming up and insist that they carry on. Gai decided it was time to go for broke.

"Lee!" he called out once again, shooting off his trademark 'thumbs up' and flashy smile, "How about this? The first one to pass through Konoha's gates wins and gets to pick where we go for dinner, and the loser has to pay! Plus, the winner picks what kind of training we do tomorrow! Whaddya say?" Lee's eyes brightened a bit as he hunkered down and put on an extra burst of speed.

"OSSU!" the Genin shouted at full volume as he began to slowly close the gap to his sensei. Gai waited until Lee had almost caught up before he too bolted ahead, tearing off down the dirt road fast enough to leave a trail of dust in his wake.

"It looks like we'll be eating at Yakiniku Q tonight after all, huh Lee? Let's see, what sort of training can we- !!" Gai stopped dead in his tracks as the horrible but all-too familiar sensation of someone's killing intent washed over him. He quickly scanned the forest lining both sides of the road but saw nothing. _Where? Where is it coming from?_ He was interrupted from his thoughts as Lee nearly crashed into him from behind.

"Gai-sensei!" the youth exclaimed, realizing something was wrong. Gai shook his head as he continued to glance about in search of the deadly feeling's source.

"It must be coming from further down the road," the jounin decided. "Follow me closely Lee, and keep your eyes peeled!"

"Ossu!" came Lee's reply as they started running again, this time keeping their speed even. Within minutes, they rounded a sharp bend in the road to behold a horrifying sight. Lee gasped as the full view of what could only have been a battleground opened up before him. "Gai-sensei… what…?" the youth trailed off.

The stretch of road they now faced was littered with debris, mostly broken fragments of wood that Gai guessed must have come from a carriage of some kind. The ground was marred with craters and long, jagged scars where the earth appeared to have been torn asunder. Smoke still rose from several small fires that had been started, probably by fire-element jutsus. The worst part of the scene was the bodies, at least ten of them, strewn about the area in various conditions. Some appeared to be injured but merely unconscious, while others bore little resemblance to a human any longer.

"Gai-sensei," Rock Lee repeated, his voice shaky, "who could have done this?" Gai was about to shake his head when he spotted the triangular bandanna suspended from one of the nearby corpses' belts: a yellow scrap of cloth with the kanji for 'fire' emblazoned across it in black.

"The… the Twelve Elite Guardians!" Gai exclaimed. "These are the Daimyo's personal escort guards!" Rock Lee gasped as well when he realized what that meant.

"Asuma-sensei!" Both shinobi dashed forward, searching the battlefield for any sign of their fellow ninja. Gai quickly discovered that only seven of the eleven Guardians he could see were dead. He carefully moved the survivors, including the badly beaten body of the warrior monk Chiriku and the unconscious but seemingly unhurt Daimyo himself, to the side of the road where there was a small patch of soft grass. It was then that he first noticed the strange, inflamed areas on the victims' bodies, almost like burn marks. Being a skilled taijutsu master, Gai recognized that the strange burns seemed to overlap with key striking points on the body. _But this still makes no sense… where is Sarutobi?_

"Gai-sensei!" came the puzzled jounin's answer in the form of Lee's shout, "Here, I've found him!" Gai rushed to his pupil's side as the youth effortlessly lifted aside a large piece of the shattered carriage, revealing the barely conscious Asuma Sarutobi. Blood ran from the corners of his mouth and it was clear that several of his ribs were broken, as was his left arm.

"Asuma-san! Asuma-san, can you hear me?" Gai asked as he and his student lifted the bearded man from the ground and carried him over to the other survivors. Asuma's eyes fluttered open at the sound, staring about in a daze before settling on the telltale outline of Gai Maito's trademark bowl-shaped haircut.

"Gai," Asuma gasped out slowly, fighting for each breath and coughing several times. "You… you must tell… Fifth…" he trailed off again as another coughing fit overtook him.

"Rest, my friend," Gai tried to persuade him, "You'll be alright once we get you back to Konoha and into a hospital." Asuma shook his head weakly.

"No… Fifth must know… tell her… Urana…" As he uttered the words, his head lolled back onto the grass and his eyes closed, his body finally succumbing to its injuries and causing the jounin to pass out. Lee looked up to his teacher expectantly.

"What does he mean, Gai-sensei? What is 'Urana'?" Gai could only shake his head.

"I don't know, Lee… but one thing is certain. If the Twelve Elite Guardians were defeated, then he is absolutely right… the Fifth Hokage must be made aware!"

* * *

In a small cluster of nearby bushes, a lone, shadowed figure breathed a sigh of relief. The two shinobi were obviously too preoccupied with aiding the injured to have noticed another presence. Peering out from behind a low branch, the figure narrowed its eyes and surveyed the carnage.

"He was here…"

* * *

**Mwa-ha-ha! Evil cliffhanger! …Sorta. The next installment will be the first real chappie; think of this as being that part of each episode that comes before Naruto introduces the title! Feel free to leave a review if your little heart desires, and oh yeah, if you notice I'm using one or more of the Japanese words incorrectly let me know… seriously, I know about as much about Japanese as the Akimichi clan knows about Weight Watchers! **

**Till next time, happy people! -Chaz**


	2. The Mission is

**DISCLAIMER: Still not owning the Naruto-ness.**

**First chappy is here! This is where our story really starts!**

**Just a quickie note: I plan on trying to keep things as close to the canon Naruto universe as possible, but if things are changed they'll be in small, sensible ways (like the role of the Twelve Elite Guardians now being that they protect the Daimyo when he travels abroad instead of all the time. This allows for Asuma to be a Konoha jounin and one of the Twelve at the same time instead of just being a former Guardian).**

**Having said that, there will be an OC in this fic who will _kind of_ be the 'main character'. I'd like the focus to fall on the Konoha 11 and their age group as a whole, but if it tends to drift toward specific characters more than others… well what can ya do, right?**

**Anyway, on with the show!!

* * *

**

_Naruto Uzumaki wasn't entirely sure where he was, and truth be told, he didn't much care. His apartment could have been on fire. Konoha could have been under attack by a thousand kage-level ninjas. Sasuke himself could have appeared and challenged him to a fight, but none of it would have made any difference._

_The only thing he was focused on right now was the wonderful, beautiful, absolutely heavenly sight of Sakura Haruno offering him a bathtub-sized bowl of steaming hot ramen._

_The blonde genin thought he might actually pass out when the green-eyed girl he'd had a crush on for as long as he could remember smiled warmly and pushed the giant bowl a little closer to him. "Itadakimasu, Naruto!"_

_**TAP…**_

"_Itadakimasu!!" he echoed, leaping into the bowl without a second's hesitation. He dove his head beneath the surface, keeping it there for several long seconds as bubbles occasionally floated up to mark his location. Naruto finally burst back out, his cheeks bulging from the mouthful of noodles he was chewing. He swallowed vigorously and sighed in satisfaction. "Ahh! This is fantastic, Sakura-chan! Where'd you find such great-tasting ramen?"_

_"Would you like me to feed you, Naruto?"_

_**TAP…**_

_"Eh?" Naruto opened his eyes and realized that Sakura was sitting right in front of him, submerged up to her shoulders in his ramen bath. He also quickly realized that neither of them appeared to be wearing any clothing. Naruto swallowed once again for a very different reason as his pink-haired teammate lifted a mouthful of noodles with a pair of chopsticks and held it out to him._

_**TAP…**_

_"Sakura-chan, I thought this day would never come!" he exclaimed joyfully as he leaned forward, eager to accept the tasty morsel (as well as anything else) that his crush was offering…_

_**TAP!!

* * *

**_

Naruto was mildly confused as to why this bite of ramen tasted like feathers. Had he been a bit more awake, it might have actually registered that his mouth was now firmly clamped around his pillow.

"Naruto! Naruto are you even up there?" Sakura's familiar voice called out, sounding a little distant and muffled.

"Fling another rock at the window," a second, similarly distorted voice suggested, "maybe this time it'll work."

**TAP!!**

"Huh?" Naruto pushed himself up, his dog-hat slipping down over one eye as he glanced toward the window near his bed. Puzzled, he pushed the glass panes open and looked down. Sure enough, there on the street below stood the blue-eyed genin's beloved Sakura-chan, as well as Ino Yamanaka and her two teammates, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded when his head popped into view, "Why are you still asleep this late?! Oh, never mind, hurry up and get dressed! Tsunade wants to see us all in her office right away!" The dazed and still incredibly confused Naruto scratched his head and yawned.

"Sakura-chan? What happened to the ramen bath…" he questioned innocently, "and why'd you put your clothes back on?" The blonde genin didn't even see the marble-sized rock the struck him across the bridge of his nose. He fell back onto his bed, shouting in pain and holding his face as he rolled about spastically, while on the street below the members of Team Asuma recoiled in fear from the fuming Sakura.

"Oooooo!! NARUTO!!"

* * *

"What does Granny Tsunade want with all eleven of us anyway?" Naruto asked, his voice slightly nasal due to the hand he was still holding over his aching face.

"I don't know," Sakura admitted as the five friends walked through the streets of Konoha on their way to the Hokage's tower, "she just told me to go and gather up everyone from our old graduating class, as well as Team Gai… but you know, I haven't been able to find Lee-san anywhere."

"Didja try the lake?" Chouji asked around a mouthful of potato chips. "I heard that he and Gai-sensei have started swimming laps with weights tied to their arms and legs."

"Idiot, _we_ were at the lake when Sakura found us!" Ino reminded her pudgy teammate. Chouji simply shrugged as if he hadn't understood what she meant, leading the long-haired blonde girl to scowl at him in annoyance.

"Tsunade-sensei gave the impression that this was important," Sakura said as she put a hand to her chin in thought. "Everyone else has already been told. Should we take the time to find Lee-san or should we go straight to the Hokage? What do you think, Shikamaru?"

"Huh?" the black-haired boy shot her a confused glance. "Why are you asking me? You're her apprentice, shouldn't you know which way she'd prefer?" Sakura stopped walking to turn and frown at him, crossing her arms reflexively in the process.

"Well excuse me if I thought the chunin super-genius would have liked to put his two cents in! Aren't you supposed to be equivalent to a military Captain after all, the ones who make tough battlefield decisions?"

"Tch," Shikamaru replied with disinterest. "Pain in the ass. You're the one who was ordered to find us, so you make the…" The lazy shinobi trailed off, glancing around the street.

"Eh?" Naruto asked, "What's wrong, Shikamaru?"

"Where is everybody?" the chunin asked as he shook his head. The others all looked up and down the street, taking note of the various citizens who were going about their daily routines. It was a relatively busy section of town, not too far from Ichiraku Ramen. Though it was hard to count accurately, Sakura guessed that there were between forty and fifty people in the immediate area alone.

"What're you talking about?" the green-eyed girl questioned. "There are people everywhere."

"Yeah," the dark-haired boy agreed, "but none of them are wearing forehead protectors, are they?" The four genin looked again.

"Hey, he's right," Naruto said. Ino nodded as well.

"Most of the time you can't even leave your house without seeing at least a few here and there," the blue-eyed girl said. "All of the sudden it's like we're the only ninja in the whole village."

"Look!" Chouji shouted excitedly as he pointed, "Up there!" All heads turned just in time to catch four people wearing the unmistakable animal masks of ANBU members bounding across the roof of a nearby store. They were gone in an instant, vanishing over the edge like the jounin-level ninja that they were.

"A squad of ANBU… here?" Sakura said aloud.

"They looked like they were in a hurry," Chouji offered. Shikamaru nodded in agreement.

"A full squad of ANBU, out in the open and going around without concealing their movements," the black-haired chunin reasoned with a sigh. "I can already tell it's gonna be a pain in the ass, but I guess we should get to Tsunade's office as soon as we can." The four genin all nodded as they took off once again toward Hokage Tower.

* * *

"There you are, Sakura!" Shizune exclaimed when the girl in question pushed open the door to the Fifth Hokage's office. Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka of Team Kurenai stood near the front of the large wooden desk where Tsunade herself was seated, Shizune standing faithfully at her side. The timid third member of Team Kurenai, Hinata Hyuuga, could be seen peeking out from between the boys' shoulders. Across the room, the weapons mistress TenTen and Hinata's older cousin Neji, both members of Team Gai, leaned easily against the wall.

"I'm very sorry," Sakura said, offering a polite bow, "I wasn't able to find Lee-san and-"

"That's all right, Sakura. All of you come inside and close the door." Tsunade said evenly. Once the door clicked shut, the Fifth Hokage laced her fingers in front of her face and looked out over the group she'd assembled.

"Good. Now that you're all here-"

"Hey, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto interrupted, eliciting a low growl from the sannin's throat at the use of the annoying nickname he'd created for her. "Didn't you hear Sakura-chan? Fuzzy Brows isn't here yet!"

"Lee is currently on a mission with Gai-sensei," Neji stated calmly, "one that TenTen and I were informed would take some time to complete."

"That's only partially true," Tsunade said in an unusually soft voice, drawing curious looks from everyone in the room. "I'm sorry Sakura, I should have told you when you left not to bother looking for Rock Lee… he's been in the intensive care unit of Konoha hospital since last night." The shock was immediately apparent on the faces of all assembled. The normally stoic Neji, who knew full well what it would take to put Rock Lee in a hospital, was the first to find his voice.

"Lee was… what happened?"

"He returned to the village late last night carrying an urgent message. Gai deemed it important enough that he gave Lee permission to remove his weights and open the First Celestial Gate in order to return to Konoha as swiftly as possible. He collapsed shortly after arriving and was taken to the hospital to recover."

"The message must have been very important for Gai to ask his student to go so far in delivering it," Shino stated as much as asked.

"We aren't sure of all the details," Tsunade continued, her expression growing grimmer with each word, "but as far as we can tell, Hiro Yamamoto, the Daimyo of Fire Country and his escorts were attacked while on their way to Konoha by a single assailant. Of the Twelve Elite Guardians… only five remain." If the news that Rock Lee had been hospitalized was enough to stun the assembled shinobi, then this very nearly floored them all.

"Wh-what?!" Naruto stuttered, his face absolutely aghast. As clueless as he was, even Naruto knew that only the strongest fighters in all of Fire Country were selected to become one of the Daimyo's personal guards.

"The Twelve…" Sakura started to say, "that means…" All faces in the room turned toward Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Asuma-sensei…" a teary-eyed Ino barely managed to whisper.

"Asuma Sarutobi was one of the lucky ones," Shizune quickly informed them, "From what Lee told us before he lost consciousness, it sounds like Asuma suffered only moderate injuries during the attack. Somehow the Daimyo himself also survived." A somewhat relieved sigh filtered through the assembled youths.

"Heh," Shikamaru laughed half-heartedly, "Figures that old geezer wouldn't die so easily."

"But still," TenTen spoke up, "how could the Elite Twelve be defeated that badly by just one person?"

"It would take hundreds, if not thousands of ordinary people to even stand a chance against warriors of their caliber," Neji surmised. "Is there any chance that a sizable squad of jounin-level shinobi could have used some type of genjutsu to make it appear as though there was a single attacker?" Shikamaru shook his head.

"A group of ninja that powerful would be virtually impossible to keep secret," the chunin asserted, "Konoha's information gathering network would have heard something about it before now." Shizune nodded.

"That's exactly right, Shikamaru. On top of that, part of the message that Rock Lee delivered was-"

"Suffice it to say we are certain this act was committed by a sole individual," Tsunade interjected, cutting off her assistant in mid sentence, eliciting more than a few raised eyebrows from the assembled ninja. "It's imperative that we locate and detain this person before they can strike again." The Fifth sat forward in her chair and placed her hands on her desk. "That's the reason I've called the ten of you here."

"Wait a minute," TenTen began to protest, "You don't mean-"

"Yes!" Tsunade shouted suddenly. "It is the duty of all Hidden Leaf shinobi to defend their country when called upon, be it in time of war or not!" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes a bit. _'Defend our country?'_ the shadow-manipulator considered her words, _Even if he's strong, does one guy pose that much of a danger?_

"Hokage-sama," Hinata asked quietly, "h-how can we possibly fight someone who defeated the Daimyo's bodyguards?"

"Yeah," her teammate Kiba agreed, "shouldn't you be sending jounin or the ANBU out for this type of thing?"

"Oh?" Naruto asked excitedly, sliding up to the beastmaster with a wide grin on his face, "Whattsamatter, Kiba? You scared?" Akamaru yipped twice as Kiba gave the blonde genin a light shove.

"The hell I am! I'm just sayin' this seems out of our league." Several heads nodded in agreement, and even Neji had to admit to himself that such a mission seemed beyond this group's abilities.

"I'm not sending you because I want to," Tsunade admitted with a sigh, "I'm sending you because right now there is no one else." A series of puzzled looks crisscrossed the youths' faces.

"Hokage-sama," Shino said, "we know Konoha has been experiencing a considerable manpower shortage since the chunin exam incident… but my impression was that things were finally getting back to normal." Tsunade sighed again and sat back in her chair.

"Let me put it this way: how many of you, excluding Naruto of course, saw your parents or active-duty family members this morning?" There was a moment of silence as each person thought, most of them shaking their heads

"My mom was working the counter at the flower shop," Ino said, "but she said dad had already gone out."

"I never see my dad in the morning," Shikamaru quipped, "he sleeps in later than Naruto."

"Hey!" the blue-eyed genin exclaimed.

"Hiashi-sama was also gone when I arrived for this morning's training," Neji offered. "Did you see him, Hinata-sama?" The indigo-haired girl shook her head meekly.

"Come to think of it, we didn't see any other ninjas at all on the way here except that squad of ANBU," Sakura realized. Tsunade nodded.

"The ANBU are being kept in reserve to defend the village," she declared. "Aside from them, almost every single available jounin and chunin has been sent to escort the Daimyo back to his castle in Kigaihei."

"All of them?!" Chouji stammered, "That's gotta be like a hundred shinobi!" Tsunade felt the edge of her lip curl up slightly in a smirk.

"The Daimyo was adamant about his protection. What Shino said is very true, but while lack of manpower is no longer a major concern, Konoha is still reeling financially from the aftermath of the invasion by the Sand and Sound," Tsunade explained. "Hiro Yamamoto is not only a wealthy Daimyo, but a respected and influential statesman. The payment he has offered for us to escort him back to his home safely will go a long way to finally restoring our village to prosperity, and his future recommendations will bring even more business."

"I see," Neji said as he narrowed his eyes. "By the same token, if Konoha should fail in protecting him…" Tsunade nodded

"It will effectively be the end of the Hidden Leaf, and most likely the end of Fire Country as well." All of the assembled youths were silent as the revelation set in. "You can see now why defending the Daimyo takes precedence over finding his assailant… however, it is critical that both missions be accomplished. If he strikes again it will look as if Fire Country is too weak to defend itself from a single man, and Konoha's credibility will be shattered. This village would crumble just as surely as it would if Hiro Yamamoto were to die." A long silence pervaded the room. Looking over the downcast, worried faces before her, Tsunade felt a pang of guilt. _Perhaps I really am asking too much of them… despite the great things I've seen them accomplish, they are still just kids. Maybe it would be better not to drag them into the affairs of the past…_

"Granny Tsunade," Naruto said seriously, raising his head and staring at her with focused determination shining from his cerulean eyes. "If our home is in that much danger… you just make sure that Daimyo guy gets home safe!" The blonde genin set one hand on his hip and pointed the thumb of the other at his chest. "We'll take care of the rest!!" Tsunade looked on in surprise as ten of the Konoha Eleven began to raise their heads one by one, each with the same confident look seeping onto their face.

"Yeah, don't worry about a thing, Tsunade-sama!" Kiba assured her. "By the time Akamaru and me are through with him, this guy'll look like a chew-toy!" His canine companion barked his support.

"It's gonna be a pain in the ass, but I guess we've got not choice," Shikamaru said with a shrug. Chouji nodded as Ino threw her arms around her teammates' shoulders from behind.

"Nobody gets away with hurting Asuma-sensei without answering to us!" the blue-eyed kunoichi declared with a wide grin.

"We will bring this man to justice, Hokage-sama," Neji stated firmly.

"You can count on us all, Tsunade-sensei," Sakura added with a confident nod. Even shy Hinata looked as if she was ready for anything. The Fifth Hokage and her assistant both smiled warmly. Despite having seen the effect Naruto's unbridled confidence could have on other people many times, it never once failed to amaze them.

"There's just one condition!" Naruto declared loudly. Everyone present looked on expectantly as Konoha's number-one unpredictable ninja flashed a wide, mischievous smile. "This mission's rank… you better make it a good one!" Tsunade couldn't help but let a knowing grin sneak its way onto her face.

"Very well, then!" she exclaimed with gusto as she stood. "This… will be an official A-rank mission! Your orders are to locate and pursue the individual responsible for the attack against Daimyo Hiro Yamamoto and his personal guard! Once he is found and positively identified," the blonde sannin paused, her eyes suddenly hard and unforgiving, "you will deal with him… using any means necessary."

* * *

**BLAH! Much longer than I intended! Sorry for no action yet, but I needed the time to get the story all started. Next time you'll definitely get to see some ninja butt-kicking goodness!**

**If some story point doesn't make sense, don't worry, everything will be explained in good time… that's what Shikamaru's big-ass brainpan and internal monologues are for! ;D**

**If anybody seems out of character or a little underused, don't worry about that either. I'll try to give each character their own 'moment in the spotlight' as the story progresses.**

**Toodles until next time, and remember: More reviews faster chapter updates! I ain't gonna bother writing it out if nobody wants to read it!**

**See ya! -Chaz**


	3. Sunset Pursuit

**DISCLAIMER: Naruto Not owned by me!**

**Wasabi, peoples? Chaz here with Chapter 2!**

**Oh yeah, as for Japanese word usage: From now on I'll include translations of anything that isn't normally said in the show or manga ( i.e., stuff like jutsu, chunin, kunai, shinobi, etc. If you're a big enough Naruto fan that you're here reading Fanfiction, you should already recognize words like these). Any other words that I use (besides names) I'll include at the end of each chappy, and since there've been a couple of words like that in previous chapters:**

**Gi: A simple outfit consisting of a pair of loose-fitting pants and a wrap-around top with a pair of ties to hold it in place. Oftentimes includes a belt as well. If you've ever seen what most people were to a karate class, you get the idea.**

**Ossu: Kind of like 'Yes, Sir!'.**

**Kanji: Japanese symbols that are used to represent various words.**

**Itadakimasu: Traditional saying before eating a meal. I don't know if it translates directly into anything, but you often hear it as 'Thanks for the food' in dubbed anime.**

**Kunoichi: Word sometimes used for a female ninja.**

**Sannin: I don't know if they use this term in the dubbed anime or not, but it's used to refer to the 'legendary ninja' status of Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru.**

**Kigaihei: A place I made up where the Daimyo of Fire Country lives. Means something like 'strong spirit wall'.**

**And without further ado…**

**

* * *

**

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune said as she pushed open the door to the Hokage's office and stepped inside holding a folded piece of paper, "we've received a report via carrier pigeon from Gai Maito."

"Good," Tsunade said after she'd read through the letter, "it looks like the medical ninja we sent along were able to heal most of the injuries that Asuma and the other surviving Guardians took during the attack. They should arrive at Kigaihei castle in about a day." The Fifth Hokage looked up from the letter. "Have we heard anything yet from Shikamaru's team?" Shizune shook her head, eliciting a sigh from her superior. "What about Kakashi?"

"He's completed his mission but still hasn't returned from Earth Country," the jounin replied. "He should make it here before anyone from Gai's group, considering the distance between Kigaihei and Konoha."

"Then as soon as he does we'll have him head out," the Hokage decided, turning her attention back to the other paperwork on her desk, "with any luck he'll be able to track down Naruto and the others in time to provide them with some back-up."

"Why didn't you want them to know?" Shizune asked.

"Huh?" the blonde sannin feigned ignorance.

"Tsunade…" the dark-haired jounin warned. Tsunade looked up into the concerned face of her subordinate and friend, sighing in resignation.

"I explained this to you already, Shizune," the Hokage began. "Your family only came to Konoha a generation ago, so you never heard the stories growing up. The Fourth Clan is something that is not mentioned in this village. The sin they committed against the other founding clans was unspeakable."

"But you might be sending Naruto and the others to fight one of them!" Shizune shouted, her temper getting the better of her, "Even if we aren't sure, you know how information can mean the difference between victory and death for a ninja. Not giving them all we have-"

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade shouted, silencing her assistant instantly, "I can freely admit that giving them this mission was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make as Hokage." Shizune stood quietly and listened as Tsunade leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "I'm also well aware that I may have just sent those kids to their deaths… but even so…" the sannin paused, a sly grin tugging at her features, "this is Naruto we're talking about. He doesn't know it yet, but if there's only one shinobi in Konoha who would know how to fight a member of the Fourth Clan, it's him." She opened her eyes and looked up to see that Shizune was now smiling slightly as well.

"I suppose you're right, Tsunade-sama. And besides, that whole group has proven pretty resourceful in the past," the jounin said, to which the Hokage nodded.

"As long as they watch each other's backs and don't get separated, they might just have a shot at this."

* * *

"Aww, I still don't get! Why'd we have to split into two groups anyway?!" Naruto complained as he, Shikamaru, Sakura, Chouji and Hinata continued leaping from branch to branch heading northeast, following a relatively narrow dirt road that had split off from the main one a few miles back. The afternoon sun was just beginning to sink below the tops of the trees, giving the sky a vibrant, reddish hue. 

"Naruto, don't you remember what the old couple near the fork in the road said?" Sakura chastised. "Two guys matching the description passed by there. One stayed on the main road and the other went this way."

"I get that part!" Naruto replied. "What I don't get is why I couldn't be in the group that stayed on the other road!" He pursed his lips and made a hurt, pitiful face. "Those old folks said there was a ramen stand just a little further down…"

"Jeeze, if I'd known you'd be making so much noise over it I _would_ have sent you off with Shino's group," Shikamaru remarked. "Anyway, keep it down, the guy who took this road supposedly only came by a few hours before us and was walking pretty slowly. We should be catching up to him soon."

"Um, Shikamaru-kun…" Hinata called out softly from the front of the group.

"Huh?" the chunin asked, "Have you spotted something, Hinata?" He had chosen to place the Hyuuga heiress at the front of their formation so she could scout ahead of them with her Byakugan ability. The pearl-eyed girl shook her head.

"N-no, but Naruto-kun has a point doesn't he? Shouldn't we all have stayed together?" she questioned timidly.

"Shino and his bugs will help keep us in contact with the other team," he explained, "and with you and Neji, either team will be able to follow from a safe distance after he's spotted and we figure out which is the one we want. We'll be able to communicate and regroup before we take him on."

"Oh," The girl replied simply.

"Don't worry about a thing, Hinata!" Naruto called out as he bounded up alongside her, "I'll drop this guy before he has a chance to hurt anyone else! He won't even know which way is up after I pound him!"

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata replied with a mild blush, slightly startled at both the sudden attention and nearness to the boy she'd had a crush on since she was six. She was nervous enough that she almost missed the next branch they both landed on.

"Eh?" Naruto said, noticing the slight misstep, "You ok, Hinata?"

"Y-yes, I'm f-fine, Na-!!" The heiress stopped in mid-sentence and snapped her head around as something intruded into her Byakugan-enhanced sight radius.

"What is it?" Sakura called forward, "What can you see?" Hinata strained her eyes a bit more, the veins surrounding them bulging wider as she applied more chakra and refined her telescopic, penetrating sight.

"Four ninja… all from Hidden Rain, I think… about half a mile in that direction!" she replied as she pointed east, off to the right of the path the road took. "It seems like they're chasing someone…"

"Hidden Rain shinobi?" Shikamaru repeated aloud. "They're awfully far from home. They shouldn't be this deep in Fire Country without having contacted Konoha in advance."

"Can you see who they're chasing?" Chouji questioned as Shikamaru signaled for them to change course accordingly. Hinata concentrated a moment but then shook her head.

"Whoever they're after is just outside my range. I-I'm sorry."

"No problem, Hinata," Shikamaru assured her, "Just keep track of them as we get closer. It's gonna be a pain in the ass, but we'd better investigate."

"All right!" Naruto exclaimed as he took a tremendous leap, "Let's go!!"

* * *

"Well? Have you found him yet?" The leader of the Hidden Rain squad called out to his subordinates. He was taller than average, with short blonde hair and a pair of curved swords strapped across his back in an 'x' shape. Two shaking heads answered him back, and he gritted his teeth angrily. "Dammit, the trail just stops in this grove! He's got to be around here somewhere!" 

"Captain!" the voice of his third team member called out. The leader turned just as she landed next to him. "I've spotted another trail branching off from the one we were following," the kunoichi explained. "It leads to the southeast."

"How the hell does he keep doubling back on us so quickly?" asked one of the other two shinobi, a man with long black hair and a small sword tucked into the back of his belt. The other half of the pair, a younger man whom was perhaps just into his late teens and wore an angry, dark expression nodded in agreement.

"We're always right behind him, and yet when he leaves a false trail he somehow manages to slip right past us and take off in another direction!"

"He's got nowhere to run this time," the woman said happily as she held up a map. "About three hundred yards to the southeast is a steep-walled valley that ends in a cliff overlooking a waterfall," she informed her team as a sly smile crept onto her face, "a _very_ _tall_ waterfall." Her captain grinned.

"We've got him. This scum will answer for the village he slaughtered back home."

* * *

"Sounds like their target is pretty dangerous," Chouji said as the four Rain ninja bounded away into the woods, completely oblivious to the five Leaf shinobi hiding in the nearby trees. 

"It explains why they're so focused on catching him too," Sakura realized, "We almost stumbled right into the middle of them and they never even looked up."

"They were all wearing flak jackets," Shikamaru said, "so they're at least chunin-level, maybe better."

"Well come on!" Naruto urged, "What are we waiting for? Let's go after them!" The shadow-manipulator bowed his head in thought. "Eh? Now what's wrong?"

"Hinata," the chunin asked after a moment of pause, "can you see the guy they're chasing yet?"

"Mm," the pearl-eyed kunoichi nodded, "but he's… kind of fuzzy."

"Huh?" Chouji questioned, "You mean like he's hairy?" Hinata shook her head as she stared off into the distance with Byakugan, her expression making it clear that she herself didn't understand.

"I-I can see a boy about our age running off to the southeast, just like the Rain kunoichi said, but when I try to look at his chakra system…" she trailed off, unable to explain. "I don't know, it's just kind of… strange."

"Well we're not gonna learn anything hanging out here!" Naruto exclaimed. The others nodded, leaping off in pursuit. Within minutes they'd entered the narrow valley and arrived at the treeline that marked the edge of the forest. Hidden among the branches, the Leaf shinobi took in the scene before them. The ground extended another fifty feet from the trees, ending in an abrupt cliff that gave way to an absolutely beautiful vista, with a tremendous waterfall cascading down the side of the mountain to the right and wide, sweeping view of the plains and forests that sprawled out and away from the mountain's foothills on the left. Combined with the brilliantly colored sunset sky, the location seemed straight out of a hopeless romantic's dream.

Their attention was not focused on the scenery at the moment, however. The four Rain shinobi, arranged in a spread-out semicircle, had apparently managed to corner their prey at the edge of the cliff. In the rapidly fading light, the five young shinobi got their first good look at who they thought might be the one they were after.

Hinata had been right; he was about their age, maybe a year or so older, and he did indeed have short black hair that seemed to spike out in random directions, matching their description and giving him a tousled look. His eyes as far as they could tell were gray, and he was dressed in relatively simple clothes. He wore pair of slightly baggy dark green pants that appeared well traveled and a plain white short-sleeved shirt. Over the shirt was a black sleeveless vest and on his hands were a pair of matching black fingerless gloves with a metal plate sewn onto the back of each. Tied around his forehead was a red headband, the long tails of which hung almost halfway down his back. On his feet were the standard toeless shoes that most ninja wore.

_Is he a shinobi?_ Sakura wondered as she strained her eyes to get a better look. _I don't see a forehead protector anywhere…_

_This guy can't be the one we're looking for, could he?_ Chouji thought to himself. The dark-haired boy had his hands out in front of him defensively as his eyes flicked back and forth between the four Rain shinobi who had him trapped; hardly a stance that someone who defeated the 12 Elite Guardians would take in such a situation.

"Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto tried to whisper, though just about everything that came out of the blue-eyed boy's mouth had a tendency to sound like a shout, "is that him? The guy who beat up Asuma?"

"Idiot!" Sakura replied back in a harsh whisper, "How am I supposed to know any more than you?! Keep quiet or they'll spot us!"

"Hey!" The leader of the Rain shinobi called out, startling the Leaf ninja and almost causing Naruto to loose his hold on the tree.

_Damn,_ Shikamaru mentally cursed, _did that loudmouth just blow our cover?_

"Hey! I'm talking to you, boy!" the Rain captain called out again. Shikamaru leaned out from his hiding place just enough to see that all four of the ninja below were still facing toward the cliff. "You're coming with us!"

"You guys again?" the black-haired boy asked, "What'd I ever do to you?"

"Nagare village…" the kunoichi said solemnly, "the village you destroyed."

"I already told you, I didn't have anything to do with that!" the boy shouted, "The guy you're after is the same one I'm-"

"LIAR!" the youngest of the four screamed back as he took an angry step forward, "You think you can just murder an entire village full of women and children in cold blood and get away with it?! My whole family died in that slaughter!!" The cornered boy's expression softened slightly, and his body seemed to relax a bit as well.

"Your whole family, huh?" he asked in a steady, even voice, "In that case, you'd probably understand better than most…" A series of confused looks graced the Rain ninjas' faces. "I want to say that I'll go with you and pay for these crimes," he finally spoke again after an almost unbearable pause, "but I can't… not until I've killed a certain man." In the nearby trees, Sakura nearly gasped.

"That tone of voice!" the pink-haired genin whispered, "He almost sounds like…"

"Sasuke!" Naruto finished for her, his blue eyes wide in surprise. Shikamaru and the others also noticed the similarity. A tense moment passed by as no one made a move or spoke. Finally, the tall captain of the Rain squad began to laugh.

"'Kill a certain man'?" he bellowed, "We saw first-hand what you did in Nagare. You've got to be stupid if you think we're going to let a sadistic freak like you hurt anyone else."

"Hey Captain," the dark-haired man said casually, "What were our orders again if the target refused to cooperate?"

"Something about 'terminate with extreme prejudice', I think," the woman replied in a similar tone. The youngest said nothing, drawing forth a pair of kunai from the pouch strapped to his leg and settling forward into a fighting stance as the others likewise readied their weapons. The blonde captain crossed his arms over his chest and took a step back; apparently confident enough in his subordinates to let them handle this task on their own.

"I don't want to fight you," the gray-eyed boy made one last attempt to avoid the all but inevitable battle. "If I don't pick up the trail soon I'll lose him again and even more people will die!"

"You aren't going anywhere," the captain declared in a clear, firm voice. "We aren't a bunch of defenseless villagers, boy. I'm Asano Karuishi, elite jounin of the Hidden Rain, and these are my finest students. We are Anrui, the Hidden Rain's number-one hunter ninja squad! We've come to avenge the lives of all the innocent people you've killed!"

Another seemingly long moment passed as none of the five individuals on the ground made a move. High above in the trees, the Leaf shinobi stayed equally still, knowing that even a single tiny twitch could reveal their presence. Finally the cornered youth closed his eyes and straightened up from the defensive crouch he had been holding, letting his hands fall to his sides passively.

"Fine," he said plainly. "Normally I'd apologize for something like this in advance, but to be honest," his eyes shot open, startling the assembled ninja with their sudden steel-hard intensity, "you're starting to piss me off!" The youth's hands shot up in a lighting-quick motion and formed a very specific hand seal. It was one of the few hand seals that Naruto knew, and he recognized it instantly.

"N-no way!" the whiskered youth exclaimed, barely able to keep his voice low, "That's-!"

"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!"

* * *

**Hey there! Betcha didn't see THAT one coming! Well, all right, maybe you did…**

**Anyway, here're this chapter's Japanese words:**

**Nagare: Another made-up place that doesn't actually exist in Naruto. Near the border of Rain and Fire Country. Means 'stream or current'.**

**Anrui: 'Silent Tears'. I thought it would sound cool as this little group's name.**

**So watcha think so far? I know I promised action last time but I figured faster, more frequent updates were better than pain in the ass long ones that come in a month apart. I really, REALLY promise to give you guys and gals some action next time, and you can take that to the bank (seriously, how could I possibly get out of writing some action considering where I ended this chapter?).**

**Big shout out and +1000 bonus points to Numbnut10 for being my first (and currently only, for that matter) reviewer!**

**See y'all at the next update::holds up pocket watch on a long chain and swings it back and forth, speaking in a mesmerizing tone:: _You want to leave a review! You want to click that little button and leave a review for Chaz! …Actually, you probably want to reach through your computer and smack Chaz for trying to hypnotize you into reviewing!_**


	4. Guilty or Not

**DISCLAIMER: Naruto is owned by someone who is NOT named Chaz…**

**Chapter 3 is finally here!!**

**Sorry for how long it took everyone; I'm in the middle of uploading the already-written chapters of an original fiction onto and working out the plotline of yet another story, so any free time I have I split between those three projects. I'm sorry to say that Naruto: The Fourth Clan might end up falling by the wayside. It's too much to work on three separate stories at once on top of reading (both other fanfics and actual books… you remember those square-ish things with paper and ink inside, right?) and doing the mundane, everyday things that have to get done. Basically, if anyone at all out there wants me to continue, let me know by dropping a quick (or long; long is good too) review. Otherwise…**

**… Well, how about we get out one more chapter (with actual fighting! FINALLY!!) and have you all read it before you decide if you want me to keep going, huh?

* * *

**

"_N-no way!" the whiskered youth exclaimed, barely able to keep his voice low, "That's-!"_

"_SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!!"_

A collective gasp ran through the nearby shinobi as a dozen duplicates of the young black-haired boy suddenly blinked into existence, surrounding the three advancing Rain hunter-nins.

"He knows the Shadow Replication technique?!" Sakura whispered incredulously. "I've never seen anyone but Naruto and Kakashi-sensei use it before!"

"That's a jounin-level skill," Shikamaru added, "and on top of that, it's supposed to be a forbidden skill that only exists in the sealed scrolls kept in the Hokage's personal library." Naruto nodded in agreement, never taking his eyes off the unfolding situation before them.

"Yeah, that's where I learned it from, and Kakashi-sensei copied it from me with his Sharingan."

"B-but then how d-did this boy…?" Hinata stuttered, leaving the question hanging in the air between the five Konoha ninja, just as surely as it was hanging on the minds of the three encircled Rain shinobi in the clearing below. The dark-haired hunter-ninja nervously glanced back and forth between the clones that had formed a ring around he and his two compatriots.

"Hey, Arashi, is this really the Shadow Clone jutsu?" he asked, his voice unsteady.

"Not a chance!" the redheaded kunoichi, obviously the brains of the group shouted back, "Don't loose your head over such a simple trick, Mazui! He's just using regular illusions to try and spook us because he knows he can't win!"

"Is that what you think?" the clone nearest to her asked, a small smile spreading across his face.

"I might use a trick like that," another simulacrum quipped from the side, "if I even knew any genjutsu, that is..."

"But as it stands, I've never had any formal ninja training like I'm sure you guys have," spoke the clone that was closest to the dark haired boy's original position before he activated the jutsu, "so I'm sure my fighting style is gonna seem pretty blunt compared to what you're used to."

"SHUT UP!!" the youngest of the Rain ninja shouted angrily. His rage had seemingly gotten the better of him. He reached inside his jacket and pulled forth both ends of a long, thin wire with over a dozen kunai hanging from it. He whipped it over his head like a lasso for a moment before letting go of one end, sending the sharp knives slashing out in every direction. The supposed shadow clones all ducked or dodged, letting the kunai slip past easily… all except one. The dark-haired replicant to the right of the boy who had launched the kunai was too close to move out of the way. Instead he quickly raised one hand and deflected the weapon with the metal plate on the back of his glove, which emitted a solid 'clang' as it made contact. The three shinobi smiled, still believing that these replications were illusions, and shifted their attention fully to the one that they now knew to be solid.

"Gotcha," the kunai-thrower stated, all trace of his former rage gone.

"Nice job, Kaeru!" the dark-haired chunin complimented, his voice firm and confident once again.

The face of the dark-haired boy went white as the Rain ninja darted toward him, approaching from three sides to close their lethal trap with ruthless, practiced efficiency. Kaeru, who was closest, managed to slip around behind him and drive a pair of kunai into his opponent's kidneys as Mazui thrust forward from the left, slipping his ninja-to between the target's ribs and directly into the heart. The kunoichi Arashi, brandishing the long wooden staff like a spear, planted said weapon forcefully into the small indentation of the dark-haired boy's throat just below the Adam's apple, instantly crushing the windpipe and any hope the victim had of breathing normally ever again. In that brief instant their smiles widened, the belief that they had avenged the village of Nagare bringing them a swell of pride.

_Idiots,_ Captain Karuishi mentally scolded his students for being so hasty, and was not at all surprised when the impaled boy vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving behind nothing; not even so much as a trace of blood on their weapons. _If they'd thought a bit more about it they'd have realized that the Shadow Clone jutsu perfectly explains why he was able to constantly give us the slip. Ordinary clones wouldn't have been able to leave a trail for us to follow._

"W-what the?!" the sword-wielding Mazui stammered, his surprise much more real than the façade of nervousness he'd put on a moment ago to help set the trap. His compatriots obviously shared his sentiments but had no time to discuss their mistake, for each of them clearly felt the presence of the remaining shadow clones leaping in to strike at their unprotected backs.

Arashi managed to turn first, whipping her staff around from left to right in a chest-level sweeping motion that had enough force to knock aside the clone it connected with. Another two came on, each grabbing an end of the staff and trying to wrest the weapon from her hands.

Mazui reacted a little too slowly, thrusting his sword out behind him on instinct to strike nothing but air. A split second later he felt a pair of hands grab each of his shoulders as a clone slid up on either side of him. Smiling, the identical duo pushed backwards and sent him tumbling over a third clone that was crouching behind his legs. He sprawled on the ground, but had enough presence of mind to keep his unsheathed weapon out to the side so as not to accidentally injure himself. The dark-haired ninja barely had time to roll away as the fourth and final clone targeting him slammed its right fist down into the ground where his head had been a moment ago. Mazui turned his roll into an awkward somersault and come up to his feet, ninja-to at the ready as the four replicants surrounded him again.

The youngest shinobi, Kaeru, fared the poorest by far. A quick spin had allowed him to slash his kunai across the leading bunshin and disperse it in a puff of smoke, inadvertently setting himself up. Two of the three clones following the first burst forward through the makeshift smokescreen, mirror images of each other as they each drove a fist into the young boy's face. The double-impact snapped his head backwards and sent him flying at least a dozen feet, crashing back to the earth with enough force that he was certain he felt one or two of his ribs crack. Almost immediately, a pair of hands slapped into the ground to his right. Kaeru managed to glance over just in time to understand that the last clone was executing a low, sweeping kick. Had he been standing upright, the maneuver would have knocked his legs from under him, but as he was lying flat on his back, the top of the clone's foot smashed full-force into the bottom of his chin. His head snapped back again and slammed into the relatively soft earth below. The young Rain hunter-nin went still, all sense blasted from him by the repeated blows to his head and face.

_His taijutsu is pretty good,_ Shikamaru said as he analyzed the young boy's fighting style from the concealment of the high tree's branches. _He's not on Lee's level, but he could probably beat any one of us in a no-frills fistfight, and on top of that…_ The Konoha chunin glanced over at Naruto, whose mouth was hanging open slightly in amazement as wide blue eyes took in the battle unfolding below. _It looks like he's noticed as well,_ the shadow-manipulator thought has he turned his attention back to the fight. _The number of clones, the coordination and precision of their movements… this guy has a great deal of experience using the Shadow Clone jutsu._ He looked back to his orange-clad friend. _He might even be better at it then you, Naruto._

Back on the ground, the dark-haired Mazui found himself desperately trying to keep the four headband-wearing shadow clones that had managed to separate him off from his allies at bay. His single, short weapon was made for assassinations and quick kills, not sustained combat against multiple enemies. A clone darted in at his side, aiming to deliver a quick jab to his midsection, only to be forced into retreat as the slender blade of his ninja-to lined up to slice at any part of the clone that came close enough.

_Wait!_ he thought suddenly, _Why would a shadow clone retreat like that?! Why didn't it take the hit to create an opening for one of the others?_ He didn't allow his internal grin to show as he lined up for an all-out assault against the clone that had just attacked him; the one he now realized had to be the genuine article. He darted forward with a series of stabbing thrusts and short sweeping cuts, forcing his opponent to backpedal and use the metal plates on his gloves to deflect a few of the closer blows. _Just a second more… NOW!!_

Mazui slashed vertically upward, releasing his handle of his sword near the apex of the swing. His opponent's eyes followed the blade for almost a full second after letting go; plenty of time for the Rain chunin to flash through a short series of hand seals.

"Water Element: Mud Swirl Jutsu!" The replicant in front of him staggered suddenly as the solid ground beneath his feet became over saturated with water, forming a small but fairly deep mud pit that sucked his legs down until his knees were just above the surface. It was soft and wouldn't hold them there for very long, but it threw the boy off balance, which was exactly what the Mazui had been hoping for.

He spun quickly to the left, grabbing the hilt of his falling weapon with an outstretched right hand and pulling it close as he turned. He completed a full 360-degree spin as the short ninja-to in his hand slashed across the chest of the trapped boy. He almost managed to not be surprised when the target exploded in a puff of smoke. Once again, he had fallen prey to the diversionary skill of the Shadow Clone jutsu.

He also once again felt himself being grabbed from behind as one of the clones he'd turned his back on swiftly slipped its arms under his, then bent them up at the elbows and locked its fingers together behind his head, trapping him in a near perfect full-nelson hold. He tried to twist his right arm into a position where he could stab over and behind him with his blade, but a second clone delivered a quick, stinging backhand to his forearm, sending a spasm into his hand and forcing him to drop his weapon harmlessly to the ground. Movement in front and slightly above him drew the Rain shinobi's attention. The last clone of the trio as in the air, leaping towards him with one leg coiled beneath it, ready to strike.

"Nighty-night," the replicant holding the Mazui's arms said as the hands grasped behind his neck moved slightly, forming the Shadow Clone seal and releasing the jutsu. The clone vanished into nothingness a split second before the leaping one's foot collided with his solar plexus. His eyes bulged as he felt his lungs and diaphragm convulse from the impact. Mazui was still conscious when his feet lifted up off the ground, but by the time he crashed back to the grassy surface several feet away, he was out cold.

Of all the Hunter-nins, the redheaded Arashi was clearly the most skilled. She was also much stronger than she appeared, as demonstrated against the two shadow clones gripping her staff when she 'fell' backwards, bracing her right foot against the weapon and using the momentum to throw the clones over her head. She relinquished her hold on the staff, allowing the two clones to have it as they flew away. Still bent backwards and using chakra concentrated in her left foot to keep from falling over, she double-checked the clones hand positions and smiled. A quick hand seal and a simple command word were all she needed.

"KAI!" she called out forcefully. The clones looked down at the staff in their hands as they felt a tremor course along its length, but they weren't fast enough to escape the spring-mounted, razor-sharp curving blades that suddenly flipped out from both ends. The blades passed cleanly through the hands and fingers of both clones, and while the injury was not severe enough to mortally wound a person, it was enough to dispel the jutsu and cause them both to puff out of existence. The remaining clones looked on in surprise as the falling staff landed back in the now-standing kunoichi's outstretched hand. She gave the weapon a graceful twirl above her head before bringing it to bear; the half-moon shaped blades at either end glinting in the fading daylight. It now more resembled a shaolin spade than a staff and it was clear to all present that the woman was a master in its use.

"I never expected you to know a jutsu of this level," Arashi admitted. "You caught me off guard…" the redhead let a tiny smile curl the edge of her lip, "but it won't happen again." The clone in front of her scoffed slightly.

"I don't have to catch you off-guard if you're as lousy a fighter as your teammates."

"Mazui and Kaeru were new recruits into Anrui," Captain Karuishi explained from a few dozen feet away as the remaining clones gathered their full force to surround the kunoichi. "However, you'll find that Arashi is another matter entirely. She is my prized student, and has earned the right to serve as my lieutenant by defeating every other candidate who desired the position, a total of fifty-three ninja!"

"Was that all at once, or one at a time?" one of the clones quipped, reminding the Rain ninja of his distinct numbers advantage. Of the original twelve, six shadow clones now remained, but both Arashi and her Captain knew that could change in an instant. _My best hope is to goad him into attacking,_ the woman thought. She didn't even have to try, for the second she opened her mouth to speak all six of the clones encircling her dashed in for an all-out assault. Contrary to her previous statement, this sudden aggressive charge _did_ catch her off guard, but to her credit she was able to recover from the surprise instantly.

Her weapon went into a spin as she herself began to pivot on one foot. Powerful, well-trained muscles became taut as she whipped the long, sturdy staff about her in an intricate dance that left no openings; no holes where an odd punch, kick, kunai or even a shuriken could penetrate. So fast was the movement that despite the kunoichi's staff having only two blades, it seemed as if near ten were circling around her to create an impenetrable defensive barrier.

The first two clones couldn't stop in time, puffing away as the razor-edged blades sliced them apart, while the others managed to pull back their assault just enough to avoid being destroyed. Arashi pressed her advantage, walking toward one of the clones and bringing the destructive whirlwind with her. The clone backpedaled a few steps, staying well clear of the spinning blades until the kunoichi suddenly leaped forward and broke her near-perfect defensive pattern with a chest level, right-to-left swing of her long staff. The clone smiled as the attack came up just a hairsbreadth too short, but that smile was short lived. Arashi continued forward, following through with her first attack by snapping the back end of her staff around in a quick thrusting maneuver and embedding the half-moon blade into the clone's midsection. It dispersed with a shout of surprise as she turned back to face the remaining three. There was no mistaking the desperation etched on their faces.

"Your Shadow Clones are dropping like flies. I've got a one-in-three chance of finding the 'real you' on this next exchange," she taunted, a sly smile crossing her features. "I wouldn't mind if you wanted to go ahead and make a few more. It won't make any difference in the end." For some reason the dark haired boy in the center straightened up a bit, smiling with an unexpected confidence that put the redheaded kunoichi on edge.

"The three of us," he declared firmly, "are more than enough to take you down right here and now." Before she could even scoff at the absurdity of his claim, they were in motion; all three clones springing into action at once.

The speaker started straight for her, running into yet another headlong charge, with the second falling in right behind. _Heh, too easy,_ Arashi thought. _Those two must be the Shadow Clones._ The third darted to one side, almost looking as if it was making a break for the tree line, but cutting back a moment later to run directly toward her at a sharp angle to the path of the others. She knew if she ignored the clones and focused on the original she would be leaving herself open. Fortunately, the sideways movement of the third target had put some distance between them, and Arashi calculated that she had just enough time to deal with the first two before needing to turn her weapon on the original.

The effort required to initiate and maintain her defensive spin was relatively large, so Arashi chose instead to strike out normally, bringing her bladed staff up over her head and bringing it down at the leading clone with the intent to split his head wide open. He saw the blow coming but didn't slow in the least, actually putting on a quick burst of speed at the last second. The staff came down hard, but even as it hit Arashi knew something was wrong. At the last possible moment the clone had stopped and bent forward, causing not only the blades to miss his head but allowing the round, smooth wooden staff itself to slap down lengthwise along his back. He was just close enough to the kunoichi that the razor-like blades at the end of the staff hung down harmlessly just a few inches behind him.

_Of course!_ Arashi thought silently. _The head-on charge, that quick dash at the end…he was getting inside my attack range!_ She didn't have time to form another thought as a hand slapped down over her staff, pinning it to the bent clone's back and preventing any attempt to ready the weapon. The second clone had leaped clear over the far end of her staff, using his right hand to steady himself and disable her weapon at the same time, and launched a vicious roundhouse kick with his left foot at her head. Arashi was able to bring her right arm up to block, wincing in pain as she caught the incoming foot in her hand. A split second later she felt something grab her ankles.

_The original!!_ she panicked. She had been so surprised by the unorthodox attack pattern of the first two that she had foolishly lost track of the third one. It had only been for a second, but it was all the dark-haired boy needed to slip behind and effectively immobilize her. Had she been looking forward instead of down, she would have seen the wide smile on the face of the leaping Shadow Clone.

"Gotcha," he said simply, mimicking Kaeru's earlier comment. She jerked her eyes upward as the full scope of her mistakes became clear. Using the hand he had placed on his partner clone's back and Arashi's own strong grip on his left foot, the smiling clone pulled hard, snapping his right foot forward and up in between them for a jaw-breaking chin kick. She let go of the staff and started to raise her left hand up to block, but she knew it was already too late. With her feet held fast and her weapon disabled, Arashi could do nothing but widen her eyes in surprise and trepidation as the sandal-clad foot smashed into her face, lifting her bodily off the ground and tossing her into the air. She flopped back down unceremoniously a few feet away, her vision filled with stars and with a strange pulsating darkness around the edges.

Just after she landed, the clone that had been holding her feet and the one who had delivered the final blow simply vanished in smoke, leaving only the bent over dark-haired boy standing in the grassy cliffside clearing, one hand on his knee for support as he gasped for breath and the other holding the Rain kunoichi's deadly staff, which had rolled from his back when she'd let go of it to try and block his second kick. As Arashi lay there glancing up at the strange boy, her mind drifted along the boundary of unconsciousness.

_That… that felt like… one of the Captain's kicks,_ she thought. _The Shadow Clone Jutsu is supposed to distribute the user's chakra and strength… evenly among the clones…_ Her thoughts trailed off as she regarded the single opponent now facing her. _Just how strong IS this guy?_ It was her last thought before blacking out.

"W-wow!" Hinata quietly stammered, her iridescent-pearl eyes wide in fascination.

"He took down three chunin in a matter of minutes," Sakura whispered, barely loud enough for her four teammates could hear.

"Big deal!" Naruto countered, his voice, as always, just a little louder than the others would have liked. "I could've done it WAY faster than that!" Sakura shushed at him, but once again neither of the still-conscious individuals below seemed to take notice.

"But still, he's really good," Chouji admitted, turning to face his best friend. "He could be the one we're looking for after all, right?" Shikamaru started to nod but stopped himself. "Shikamaru?" the Akimichi boy questioned. The Konoha chunin narrowed his eyes at the dark-haired youth below. Something just wasn't adding up here. Before he could ponder it any further, Captain Karuishi began walking- slowly, purposefully- toward the young man who had defeated his charges. As he neared the boy finally straightened from his bent position, turning to fully face the Rain jounin and bringing the staff he'd claimed from Arashi to bear in a defensive posture. Karuishi stopped a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest. The blonde man sighed lightly.

"I suppose I should be disappointed," he admitted quietly, and the five Konoha shinobi had to strain their ears to listen. "I didn't expect much out of Mazui and Kaeru so early in their training, but Arashi… oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. In the end, I'm glad it came to this." He reached up behind his shoulders and grasped the protruding handles of the curved swords strapped to his back, drawing them forth in a single smooth motion and lowering them to his sides. "Now it'll be all the more believable when we return home and say that we had no choice but to kill you instead of bringing you back to stand trial like we were ordered."

"I'm not the one you're looking for," the youth said, his breathing no longer stressed as it had been a moment ago, "but then, you don't really care, do you?" Karuishi's face tightened a bit at that. "You're not out here looking for justice, you're out here looking for revenge," the boy continued, "and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I'm an assassin, kid," the tall man said firmly, his voice sounding more like an explanation than a warning. "I've completed more A-rank assassinations than anyone else in my village. Most of my targets I don't even know beyond face or name, and every time I wash the blood from my hands I wonder about them." Karuishi paused, gazing up at the sky for a moment with surprisingly soft eyes.

"Did they all deserve to die? I know they all posed a threat to the Hidden Rain village, at least that's what our leaders decided, but after all these years that's not as much comfort as it used to be. How many of them could have been dealt with differently? How many had families, children, and grandchildren even? How many were good people at heart who'd just made a bad decision somewhere along the line?" He sighed again, this time more deeply, and leveled his gaze on the dark-haired boy.

"It's not everyday that I get to kill someone who really deserves it," he said with stoic determination, "so when I think of all the innocent people lying dead at your hands, you can be damn sure I'm not going to let the chance to kill you myself slip away." The dark haired boy, his eyes half closed, looked down to the ground, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Killing me, whether I'm guilty or not, won't make up for the innocent blood on your own hands, Asano Karuishi."

If the Rain jounin was at all affected by those words, he didn't show it. After a moment of silence had passed, the blonde man stepped back with one foot, settling into a fighting stance one sword held vertically before him and the other out to one side and pointed directly at his opponent.

"Your name," Karuishi said. It was not a question. The boy straightened up, moving aside the bladed staff and stabbing one end into the ground next to him.

"Hanaseru…" he said firmly, "Hanaseru Urana."

It was a name that meant nothing to the Rain jounin, so he only nodded in acceptance. Four of the Konoha ninja hiding in the trees found no meaning in it either, but had they not been so fascinated by the scene playing out below, they might have noticed the sharp gasp that escaped the lips of the fifth member of their team.

Hinata nearly lost her grip on the tree as she staggered backwards a step, her eyes wide and her entire body going rigid in an instant. Her breath caught in her throat as her heart began to pound, not in the way that it did when she was thinking of Naruto, but closer to the way it had when she had been forced to face her cousin Neji during the past year's Chunin Exam.

There was no doubt in her mind any longer. The dark haired boy was the one they were after. He had obliterated the village of Nagare and murdered its inhabitants. He had attacked the Daimyo's caravan on the road north of Konoha and killed most of the Twelve Elite Guardians. The Hyuuga heiress knew this with absolute certainty.

"U-Urana…" she repeated breathlessly.

* * *

**So whatcha think? Sorry to make all the action fans wait so long for the fighting to start; it just felt wierd to run right into it without setting up the story first. **

**One small note on the fight: Arashi uses the the word 'Kai'** **activate her staff, which is translated as 'Release' and is used to dispel the effects of a Genjutsu, but in this case it's just her way of using her chakra to activate her weapon's special tricks.**

**Review, por favoooooooooor! (I'm sorry about trying to hypnotize you all into it last time!)**


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